It is believed that the current state of the art is represented by the following patent literature: U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,824,933, 6,053,466, 8,006,629, 9,592,929, USD0798024, US2013180437, WO2011040758 and WO2013060900.
USD0798024 discloses a nestable pallet.
WO2011040758 discloses a lightweight pallet to be used in loading and unloading goods using a forklift truck. The lightweight pallet of WO2011040758 comprises: a pallet plate unit formed into the shape of a plate having an upper surface on which goods are loaded; a pallet rib unit bent upwardly or downwardly from the pallet plate unit to support the pallet plate unit; a thermally bonded unit formed by thermally bonding both sides of a rib at the intermediate portion of each rib in a lengthwise direction such that the ribs of the pallet rib unit have cohesive force in a lengthwise direction or a vertical direction; and a plurality of pallet support units bent downwardly from the pallet plate unit to support the pallet plate unit such that the pallet plate unit has a predetermined height.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,006,629 discloses a pallet includes an upper and lower deck. The upper deck in U.S. Pat. No. 8,006,629 includes snap-pin openings. First joining members in U.S. Pat. No. 8,006,629 project downwardly from the upper deck, with each first joining member including an outer sleeve surrounding a respective snap-pin opening. Second joining members in U.S. Pat. No. 8,006,629 project upwardly from the lower deck, with each second joining member including an inner sleeve and a snap-pin receiving cavity positioned therein. The inner sleeves receive the outer sleeves to define support blocks joining the upper and lower decks. Snap-pins are inserted into the snap-in openings in the upper deck. Each snap-pin includes a head for engaging a snap-pin opening, and spaced apart tips that extend through the snap-pin receiving cavity for engaging a backside of the inner sleeve associated therewith.